The Inside Story of the Banning of “Maus.” It’s Dumber Than You Think. – Mother Jones
“I have not seen the book and read the whole book. I read the reviews.” The only item on the meeting’s agenda was what to do about Maus, and this board member had not bothered to glance at it.
Daring Fireball: An Assortment of Links and Observations Regarding the Neil Young –Joe Rogan Spotify Saga
Sums up the arguments pretty well, but then, I do agree completely.
What’s the Point If We Can’t Have Fun?
Physicists are more playful and less hidebound creatures than, say, biologists—partly, no doubt, because they rarely have to contend with religious fundamentalists challenging the laws of physics. They are the poets of the scientific world.
Evolutionary psychologists claim they can explain—as the title of one recent book has it—“why sex is fun.” What they can’t explain is why fun is fun. This could.
$241,633 was lost to fraud this year — that’s about what we expect | GiveDirectly
Does the value recovered outweigh the cost of investigating these cases? From a simple dollar-for-dollar amount, certainly not. However, the existence of a rigorous investigations team helps deter staff and partner fraud.
It’s Research, But Still Very Wrong – Interdependent Thoughts
I wasn't affected by the somewhat scuzzy email sent out by chumps at Princeton to "research" internet privacy regulations, but I was prompted by Ton's investigation to take a look at Tranco. And blow me if I'm not also in there. One of the compensations of being an old blogger.
How The Politics Of White Liberals And White Conservatives Are Shaped By Whiteness | FiveThirtyEight
Among the many fascinating charts that 538 selected from this year, this is the one I found most informative.
ongoing by Tim Bray · Blah, Blah, Blah, Boom
I'm still, at heart, both a coward and a pessimist.
Revisiting My Ideal Feed Reader – Interdependent Thoughts
Making tentative steps towards implementing an IndieWeb social reader and so reading up what other people have done and how they are using these ideas.
Property ownership in a small farm future | Small Farm Future
[S]o many people in the world today lack the opportunity, knowledge and skill to provide even the most basic perquisites of daily life, and I believe this is a silent pathology that eats at contemporary society.
Yup.
J-School Confidential
I'm pretty sure nothing much has changed in the intervening 28 years.
Thomas P.M. Barnett - Blog - As a Writer, What Would It Be Worth to You to Be Able to Instantly Mine Everything You’ve Ever Written?
Thomas PM Barnett seems to be building a combination personal search engine and Zettelkasten called InfoSquirrel and plans to sell it as a service. I doubt I will ever be able to afford it, but it does look interesting and I certainly wish him well.
Part 1: It will think you are crunching bones
Always readable.
19.10.40 | Orwell Diaries 1938-1942
Thought for the Day
The unspeakable depression of lighting the fires every morning with papers of a year ago, and getting glimpses of optimistic headlines as they go up in smoke.
Pig apples: or, why small farmsteads are efficient and effective | Small Farm Future
[W]hile it’s feasible to wander around a smallholding with a trug looking for apples to feed two pigs, it probably isn’t feasible to wander around a largeholding with a trug looking for apples to feed two hundred or two thousand pigs. So there are diseconomies of large scale to the ecological efficiency of the farm’s unbidden bounty.
That doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile
Ghostwriting – Study Hall
Very interesting long essay about what it is to be unseen, unheard and yet vital. But that professional podcast world? Awful.
How to help someone use a computer
I just rediscovered this page, which I first linked to on this day in 2004. Timeless advice that I try to follow when I give and appreciate when I receive.
In my ignorance, I didn't know who Phil Agre was; now that I want to know more, it is hard to do so.
Opting Out of TurnItIn – Terence Eden’s Blog
Not sure I can be bothered to expend the effort, but the reasoning is sound.
My argument is "Fuck You. I don't want you to hoover up my content and then sell it without my permission."
Godwit – Music of Sound
Wonderful in so many ways, from the natural to the highly technical.
An open letter to Airbnb
I don't know why he doesn't post this to his own site. Seems to me airbnb and Medium share certain similarities
21 pieces of unsolicited advice nobody else is willing to tell you | poste italiane
Found via Ton, lots of these are good. I need to internalise "the grind" more than I currently do.
Best analysis of US pull-out in Afghanistan
We started the Global War on Terror with a Leviathan force but we're continuing it - forever - with the SysAdmin force that does not wage war on states but on individuals.
Rings true to me.
Scotland, stop selling yourself shortbread!
Excellent, thought-provoking read on the fall and rise of local food traditions.
Renegade projections and the domestic mode of production: for Marshall Sahlins (1930-2021) | Small Farm Future
More here than I remember, and my copy of Sahlins is long gone, but it would be good revisit, as Chris has.
w/e 2021-08-01 (Phil Gyford’s website)
What if you don’t realise which genre you’re actually in and you’ve been doing everything wrong all this time?
Nicely put!
Welcome to the Entropocene (Interconnected)
I fully confess that from my position of inherent privilege, I had never considered the negative connotations of Anthropocene, despite often using "not ALL men" myself. So, can I train myself to use Entropocene instead? Maybe
an appeal to people who sell stuff on the internet
Can I get an Amen?
How I grew, and lost, a rainforest | Small Farm Future
I like the idea of a dappled woodland glade, the product of pig rootling, being neither light nor shade, and an apt metaphor for think beyond simplistic dualities.
Pluralistic: 05 Jun 2021
The fact that these cult-members were willing to risk their lives, but not endure poor web design, says a lot about the nature of the Trump cult, and its relationship to passive media.
What magic teaches us about misinformation | Tim Harford
Excellent read, with lots of far-flung examples.
Defending inflation
Excellent, clear explanation. I rather liked this bit:
One strange feature of American ~popular economic discourse~ is that the rarified troubles of the very rich often get discussed as if they were “normal”, but: they are extremely not normal.
The million-dollars-in-cash-havers can fend for themselves.
Because it is so true.
Commonplace – Lucy Bellwood
Fascinating.
TIL Zibaldone, which I might just have to make my own.